And if you cup your hand to your ear, you can hear the faint sounds of teenage girls in Ottawa crying in unison. Now let’s discuss this trade…

Obviously, it’s a win-win situation for the Senators and Mike Fisher. For personal reasons, Mike not only gets an opportunity to play for a playoff team but he also has an opportunity to live with and spend more time with his wife, Carrie Underwood. From an organizational standpoint, this is a huge move in the rebuilding process for the Ottawa Senators. Since the 2007 Cup Finals appearance, Mike has never been able to produce the points necessary to justify his $4.2 million per season contract.

By dumping his contract without having to take on any salary, management was able to land a coveted first rounder and a conditional pick – one that is Nashville’s third-round selection if the Predators win one round in the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and turns into a second-rounder in 2012 if the team wins two-or-more rounds.

Looking at the standings now, Nashville is currently sitting in fifth spot in the Western Conference. They’re only five points back of Division leading Detroit but only five points out of 11th spot too. I assume most Sens fans will be hoping for Nashville to finish as low as possible in the standings so that the 1st round pick will have more value. And in the event that Nashville clinches a playoff spot, people will be rooting them on. Of course, Nashville’s jockeying in the standings could be rendered moot if Bryan Murray somehow manages to package this first rounder with a player like Chris Phillips to secure an even higher first round pick – like the one that Toronto pick that Boston’s GM Peter Chiarelli said he’d be willing to move.

Obviously it’s depressing to see a player of Mike’s ilk leave. His physical style, character and work ethic will be missed but despite all of the physical tools, he never really established himself as the 60-point second line center that we all expected him to become. In the salary cap era, you have to give up something to get something of value. And for that reason, the time had come for him and the organization to move on.